Evanston, IL, USA. The influence of cultural beliefs when children reason about biology are decisive when forming their world view, says new research.

The experience of children, including the extent of their day-to-day interactions with the natural world, and their sensitivity to the belief systems of their communities, influences their reasoning about the natural world.

The consensus among social theorists and educators has been that young children begin reasoning about the biological world by adopting an anthropocentric stance, favoring humans over non-human animals.

However, a research team went back to the basic questions involved when learning about biology and the properties of animals to critically examine this decades-old consensus. In a study that appears in Cognitive Development, a research group from Northwestern University teamed up with researchers and educators from the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin to determine whether anthropocentric reasoning is universal among children.

Expanding this type of investigation could be foundational and provide useful data when examining the persistence of belief systems from childhood to maturity. The results, even at this point, have implications for education at all levels and studies of cross-cultural communication.The team started by asking some core questions: How do children reason about the natural world? and How do they understand the relation between human and non-human animals?

The research team was interested in whether such reasoning is influenced by children's experience with the natural world and the culture and belief systems of their communities.

To examine these potential influences, the study included children growing up in an urban setting (Chicago) as well as children from rural Wisconsin, who have more extensive direct contact with the natural world. To examine the influence of culture, the rural community included European-American and Native American (Menominee) children.

There were striking differences: young urban children revealed a human-centered pattern of reasoning, while the rural European-American and Native American children did not.

For example, the researchers noted that while children generally are taught in school that only plants and animals are alive, the traditional Menominee notion of "alive" includes natural inanimates, such as rocks and water, and may even include artifacts, depending on the purpose for which they were made.

Thus, the direct experience of children, including the extent of their day-to-day interactions with the natural world and their sensitivity to the belief systems of their communities, influences their reasoning about the natural world.

Such cultural differences provide strong evidence that the human-centered pattern displayed by young urban children is not a universal starting point for development, as researchers and educators had previously assumed, said Waxman, a co-author and professor of psychology.

"Instead, this human-centered style of reasoning is itself culturally inflected," said Waxman. "It may, in fact, reflect a cultural model that is prevalent in the media for young children, for example, stories and films in which animals talk, sing and act like humans."

Expanding this type of investigation could be foundational and provide useful data when examining the persistence of belief systems from childhood to maturity. The results, even at this point, have implications for education at all levels and studies of cross-cultural communication.

The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.


TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.

Tweet

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment